


Happy Birthday, Mal

by anxiety_junkie



Category: Firefly
Genre: Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-18
Updated: 2010-09-18
Packaged: 2017-10-11 23:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiety_junkie/pseuds/anxiety_junkie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaylee gets something for Mal for his birthday, and he's none too happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Birthday, Mal

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** Mal – you bought me a what?

"You bought me a what?!" Mal yelped.

"A blind date!" Kaylee chirped enthusiastically. "You ain't gone off the ship 'cept for a job in a month of Sundays. And since it's your birthday an' all, I thought you needed some fun." She faltered at the gobsmacked look on his face. "Don't you like it?"

" _Mei mei_ ," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Not that I don't appreciate the fact that you thought to get me somethin' for my birthday, 'cause I surely do. But even if I wanted to get dolled up and meet some stranger, how in the _tian xiao de_ could you afford somethin' like that?"

"Tweren't nothin', Cap'n. All I did was pay for dinner, the rest is up to your date." Kaylee then gave him the naughtiest smile he'd ever seen on her sweet little face. "And I never said it was a stranger, did I?" She ran off to the engine room before he could reply.

Mal turned to Zoe. "Can you believe the nerve of that girl? Setting me up on a date – _without_ my permission I might add – and then not even tellin' me who it's…who!"

"Actually, sir," Zoe said with a perfectly straight face, "considering I gave her my take from the last job to help pay for it, believin' is not somethin' I have trouble with."

~*~*~*~

Mal nervously straightened his waistcoat for the fifth time in as many minutes, before bowing to the inevitable and climbing out of his bunk. He'd argued loud and long with Zoe about going through with this, but she'd broken him in the end by pointing out how disappointed Kaylee would be if he refused to go. So in an effort to make his mechanic happy, he pulled out that gorramn monkey suit he'd bought for the shindig on Persephone that she'd told him showed off his backside. Though he had to admit that he'd been pleasantly surprised to discover the trousers were a bit looser this time around. At least there wasn't any danger of them splitting up the back if he bent over.

Mal dithered in front of the infirmary, trying to work up the courage to actually walk up the stairs and through the door into the cargo bay to meet his 'date'. He wished Simon was there to distract him with a sarcastic comment about his outfit, it might have taken his mind off the space monkeys doing a jig in his stomach. But for once the doctor wasn't haunting the blue-lit room, and that irritated him mightily. Why couldn't the gorramn boy actually be where Mal needed him to be?

Time to face the music. Mal took the steps two at a time and stepped into the bay, but didn't raise his eyes off the floor until he reached Jayne's weight bench, figuring if he didn't look up and see who it was then he could pretend it wasn't happening yet.

"You can look up now, Captain."

Mal's mouth dropped open when he saw who was standing near the bay doors. He hadn't noticed anyone noticing his interest, but apparently he was a lot more transparent than he supposed. He had to remember to buy Kaylee a big box of strawberries at their next stop as a thank-you.

"Well," he said roughly, trying to gain a little of his equilibrium back, "gotta say this is a surprise, seein' as how it were Kaylee set this up."

A shy grin answered him, and Mal was suddenly a lot more optimistic about the rest of his night. "Happy birthday, Mal."

It looked like Simon was exactly where Mal needed him to be after all.

 

~fin


End file.
